-dear (y/n),
i had a class to go to so i made your breakfast & lunch. all u have to do is heat it up. also i know ur album release party is tonight but im going out with mia tonight  so i'll be there before you perform. promise. maybe i'll bring her along ! anyways enjoy your day.
-your best friend, Jean

You sigh and ball up the letter, tossing it onto your kitchen counter. This was not what you needed right now. However you didn't have the time to dwell over it . As mentioned in the letter, tonight was your album release party. It would end after your album released at midnight. So it was kind of like a countdown party. You had ended up sleeping in pretty late that day since the night before, you were up with Jean. It was already 6 o'clock and all you had completed that day was showering and getting the basic things out of the way before your "Glam Squad" a.k.a. Sasha, Mikasa, and Armin, and Levi and Hange arrives. They should be here any minute so, you straightened up until you heard a knock on the door.

You quickly finished lighting your peaches and cream candle and went to answer the door. "Hello !" Hange greeted you, practically throwing themself onto you for a hug. You hug them back as everyone else comes into the room.

"Hey guys," you say, closing and locking the door.

"We don't have much time so we narrowed your outfit done to this one for the performance and this one for the party if you decide you want to change,"
Mikasa said, unzipping the bag that held the ensemble.

"Yeah and if you don't feel like changing, you can pick one. And if you do please pick this one." Armin then took one of the pieces and you were awestruck. The top, almost like a bra, was made completely of crystals. The top row was amethyst and the bottom had mixed crystals on it. The bottoms was a simple green skirt but for their accessories there were a bunch of handmade waist beads. You didn't even bother looking at the other outfit until it hit you that changing from the second outfit to this one for the performance would surely take everyone's breath away.

The second outfit was multicolor, form fitting dress with different cutouts. To go with it were green heels. Perfect for chilling in before going on stage. "I'll start with the dress and then I'll change."

Mikasa smiled, "I knew you'd say that."

With that Mikasa helped you get into it as everyone else sat on the couch. Sasha on the other hand started getting the makeup ready. She was going to go for a more neutral look so it wouldn't take long. Armin helped you with your shoes and accessories and that is was time for makeup. Before starting , Sasha put a drape over you to prevent any falling powders or product falls onto your outfit.

After about an hour, you were done. "Alright. Hurry up and let's go," Levi says, waking up from his nap and standing straight up.

Without hesitating, you quickly found your phone and purse before following him out the door. Last thing you wanted to do was make him late to the party, especially when he was fresh woken from a nap. The drive to the venue wasn't long, since it was in L.A. as well. Once you arrived to it, you marveled at how pretty it looked when lit up.

There was a red carpet laid out for all of the different guests, celebrities and noncelebs. Being that it was now eight o'clock, the party had started an hour prior. But this way, you could make your grand entrance. Different camera flashes filled your vision as you did a few poses before walking through with part of your team. Once you got to the entrance of the club, a familiar voice came onto the loud speaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen,  join me in welcoming a diamond in the rough. Damn near my sister and the one we're here to celebrate tonight, (y/n) Diamonds !" Connie stood with the microphone in the middle of the floor, as the spotlight went from him to you. Everyone looked in astonishment at your custom dress and cheered as you walked to him to say a few words before allowing the party to resume.

You took the mic from him, smiling widely, showcasing all your teeth (even your adorable gap) and your smiley piercing. You hugged Connie before he sat down in his seat, leaving you in the middle of the crowded club to speak.

"Woah. Um. It's way more people I expected it to be," you laugh. The crowd laughed along with you before starting back up their cheering and applause. They then quieted back down so you could continue. "I guess I wanna start by thanking everyone for coming. I also want to thank everyone who's ever worked with me. Thank you to my management, who really took on a parental role since my mom passed. Thank you to my best friends in the whole wide world, Connie, Mikasa, Eren, Sasha, Armin, and Jean. And most importantly, thank you to the reason I kept going in music, my dear mommy."

Everyone again clapped, including those you mentioned, feeling honored to publicly receive your appreciation. You looked out at all the smiling faces and Jean's was missing. He said he'd be late but you came to the party a whole hour after it started. So, part of you expected for him to be there. But he wasn't and that was okay. Because you had your other friends to celebrate with.

Besides he'd be there soon, right ?

"With that being said, I'm so excited to show you guys what I've been working on for so long. Enjoy the party. Bye." You end off your little welcome speech before giving the mic back to the DJ, who started playing music shortly after.

"I'm so proud of you, (y/n)," Eren quickly came up to you with the rest of your friends. He embraces you with a tight bear hug, squeezing the air out of your lungs.

"We all are," Levi added, not really knowing how to express affection. So, he patted you on the shoulder awkwardly.

You all then continued to enjoy the party, your friends posting different pictures and statuses. All the while you were checking your phone every few minutes to see if Jean was there yet. He wasn't.

"Whatcha' looking at ?" Connie asked, his head going onto your shoulder. The rest of the people you were there with were off dancing, drinking, or networking. You and Connie decided to sit down for a bit since your feet hurt in your heels.

"Just um. Nothing."

He lifted his head so you could see him side eyeing you. "Nothing," he repeated unconvinced.

"Yeah. I'm just y'know. Checking my Twitter feed."

"I look stupid to you ?"

You shrug, suppressing a laugh. "Kinda."

"Not funny.. You're checking for Jean aren't you ?" You didn't answer, ironically giving the answer he needed. Connie let out a deep sigh. "(Y/n) why don't you just tell him."

"And mess up years of friendship ? I don't think so," you respond.

"Well how do you know he'll flat out reject you ?"

"He's literally likes Mia, Connie. Be so for real."

Connie shrugged. "Well maybe he wouldn't be so stuck on her if he knew."

"Guess we'll never find out," you respond.

"Find out what ?" You then turned around to see Jean in all black attire. And next to him was the dreaded and friend-group hated, Mia. The two of them both sat down at the table, Jean earning a dirty look from her since he didn't pull the chair out.

"Find out if Levi will ever smile," Connie quickly answers to avoid suspicion. "What's up Jean ? Why were you late ?"

All three of you knew good and well why he was late but Connie felt like choosing violence tonight. "We're late because Jean wanted to take me out to eat," Mia butted in. You rolled your eyes and faced the other way so she couldn't see the gagging face. Connie caught it though.

"You know we had food here right ?" Connie side eyed Jean.

Jean was slightly hiding his face in his hands until he heard Connie's question. "Yeah well Mia can be pretty picky so we stopped just in case," he answered.

"Hm," was all Connie responded with. "So what'd you guys get ?"

"Streak and potatoes. Jean gave me his sides, though," Mia answered, flipping her beach blonde hair that was filled with extensions that were pretty easy to see, even in the dimly lit atmosphere. "So..  what's the occasion ?" she asked.

"(y/n)'s album is dropping tonight. So we're hosting this party," Connie answered, calling you back to attention.

"Right. Um yeah."

"Really ?"

"Really what ?" you respond.

"No offense but I just didn't think you were that big." Mia spoke with a cutesy smile, in attempt to mask the subtle animosity. "I'm sure the album is okay though."

"Oh it's gonna be better than okay. (y/n) is a prodigy," Connie interrupted. "Isn't that right Jean ?"

"One hundred percent ! One of the most talented people I know," Jean concurred as he smiled at you. You hated that Mia was there but you couldn't help but to smile back.

"Y'know I used to sing but I needed a more real job so-"

"So now you're a receptionist," Connie said with the same smile as Mia's on his face.

"Yup. At a big law firm," she replied.

Connie shrugged. "Welp. Maybe you would've got to where (y/n) is but music isn't for everyone. Right ?"

"Yeah..that's right." Mia's smile wiped off of her face thanks to Connie. And he was happy with that, in fact it was his goal. "Excuse me. I have to use the bathroom," she said bitterly.

The three of you waited for her to leave the table before Jean shot Connie an angry gaze. "What the hell was that for ?"

"What ? We were just having a conversation. And you treated her to steak ? Steak Jean ?" Connie sounded more upset about the steak than anything else.

"We didn't know the menu," he shamefully answered.

"Eren's here and only eats chicken fingers and fries. Of course there were gonna be basic options."

You figured now was the time to intervene. Last thing you wanted was for them to argue on your night. "Anyways.. you came just in time. I go on soon."

"Oh cool ! I'm excited to see you sing again," Jean answers.

"Speaking of, here comes Levi." Connie watched as Levi walked over to the table.

"(Y/n), let's go." Levi holds his hand for you to take. He was going to lead you to the dressing room at the venue. Levi waited until the both of you walked further away from the two boys to talk to you. "You and Kirstein. Are you together or ?"

"What ?! No. No of course not.

"Oh." Levi was trying to step up more into the paternal impact you said he had. But since he was not affectionate in the slightest and very awkward, it came off as him just asking random questions.

"Yeah.."

"Oh okay but you like him, right ?"

"What ?"

"You like him," he said, this time not really as a question.

"I have no clue what you're talking about," you say as you turn into the dressing room, where Armin was laying out the different waist beads so that he could put them on in order. Mikasa was holding your outfit and greeted you with a smile.

"Okay ready ? We don't have much time," she says as she pulls you into the room and bumping Levi with her hip. She closes the door behind her and starts helping you get out the dress. Armin turns around out of respect until you get the top on, since the bottom half of the outfit was a two person job.

The different crystals glimmered and danced with the lights in the room. Armin then began putting on the waist accessories while Mikasa helped you to put on the skirt. "Five minutes, guys !" Hange called. Luckily all you had left was to put on the matching heels.

"Gorgeous as always," Armin said, snapping a few pictures of the outfit.

"We can take pictures later," Mikasa says, grabbing your hand. "C'mon you gotta get on stage."

You and Mikasa ran as fast as your heels allowed you to. Connie met you there, helping you up the stairs that led up to the stage. He was going to be in charge of changing your tracks for the night so once you were on stage and getting your microphone ready, he was over at his booth. "You ready ?" He called.

You answered with two thumbs up as the curtain then began to rise. A bunch of eyes were now looking back at you. Every time you performed you seemed to forget that a big part of that was doing it in front of tons of people. You never got used to the feeling but maybe that was a good thing because it made you perform better. Immediately the crowd roared of excitement and just like every other show, Jean was front row, smiling back up at you.

"How's everyone doing tonight ?" you say into the mic softly. The audience answered with cheers. "Great. Great. I wrote this first song while I was still stripping and I think ? I had just gone through a breakup. I dunno maybe my friends remember-"

"Yeah ! You did," Connie spoke into his mic from his booth.

"Right." The crowd laughed. "This one is called Normal Girl." (play the song now plz) Connie played the track that was accompanied with live band while the visuals began to play on the big screen behind you.

𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗶 𝗽𝗼𝗽 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗽

𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗹

𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝘆 ?

This song was never released because you were waiting for the album to put it out. But somehow your fans got the song. You had written it a year or two ago. Instantly, you got flashbacks since it was truly nostalgic. You haven't sang this song since you first wrote it.

flashback

two years ago

"Really (y/n). You just gonna walk out on us like that ?"

You got out of the your boyfriend at the time, Bryce's red 2000 Ford Countour, slamming the door behind you. You were late for your shift because you had just spent the last two hours arguing with him over yet another girl "coming to you as a woman". This time she had receipts. This was a typical Tuesday night with you. But this time you were unbelievably pissed. The one time you try to take your focus off of Jean and shift it to someone else, they cheated on you. How ironic.

You didn't bother to talk to him because you were actually done this time. "Fine ! I don't care," he shouted, following you out of the car and into the building. Your silence bothered him more than any response you could give him would. Your coworkers stared in shock as you completely ignored a fully grown man shouting different profanities and manipulation tactics at you. And coincidentally your friends had dropped by to see you. Well at least Mikasa, Jean, Connie and Eren did. The owner of the club loved them and you dearly, so she allowed visits and granted them access to your personal dressing room whenever they wanted. Apparently they needed to run a few things by you because with the help of them, you had a performance at a nightclub coming up that week. So, when they saw you come into the dressing room with an aggressor, they didn't hesitate to step in.

"What's going on ?" Mikasa said, standing up to hold your hand and possibly lead you away from the situation. You didn't have an answer for her, mostly because at that point you had disassociated like crazy, so she looked at Bryce. "The fuck is your problem ?"

"Why don't you mind your business ?" He responded.

"Go fuck yourself, bitch," she spat, having you sit down next to her. She knew that when you got really really quiet like this, one of two things would happen. You would either become very enraged, and violent OR you were stuck like this for the rest of the night and possibly even the next day. 

"Why don't we all calm down and you just head home ?" Eren asked in attempt to come off professional and deescalate the situation.

"I don't have to do shit," he snapped.

"Right but what you're going  to do is leave," Connie jumped in.

"Yeah it's about time for you to go playboy," Jean added. 

Right then and there is when Bryce began swinging on Jean. A fight was quite literally the last thing you wanted to happen that night so now that it was, you felt yourself get angrier. Who did this guy think he was ? He cheats on you, never brings you home to his family, and treats you like shit and he comes into your work and fights your friends ? Fuck no. You quickly spring up and grab an empty beer bottle that was sitting on your vanity. From there, you straight up smashed the bottle over your ex's head, knocking him out. 

Pretty intense for a pretty lady like yourself but your mom raised you to do what you needed to do. And that's what you did. 

Your friends all stared in shock at you until two knocks were heard at the door. "Security ! Is everything okay ?"

You opened it, stepping to the side so that they could see the body laying on the floor. "To avoid shit like this, let's up the security at the employee entrance. Tell the house, I'm going home." With that, you grabbed your things and escorted your friends out of the building. 

back to the present

You snapped out of your flashback to find that you finished your performance. Everyone in the crowd cheered and clapped. Your closest friends had tears in their eyes since they recalled the state you were in when you wrote that song. You came an awfully long way and they were just happy that they could be there to watch you grow. 

After you were done singing and taking in all of the applause, you walked off of stage and went to go find your friends who were already waiting backstage for you. Except for Jean of course who was getting yelled at by Mia back at your table. "You did so fuckin' good !" Eren squeezed you into a hug and lifted you up. "I'm so proud of you."

"Eren relax before you mess up her vocals or something," Connie rolled his eyes before giving you a hug, one less tight than Eren's. 

"I expect nothing less from you Miss Diamonds," Mikasa laughed. 

"Exactly ! But um do us a favor and turn around real quick. This needs to go on our business page," Armin laughed nervously, already taking out his phone to record you and the outfit. You did as he pleased.

Before long, you walked out and back to your table to enjoy the rest of your night. Waiting there for you guys, was Mia and Jean. And she was still going on and on. Annoyed that this was the thing stopping Jean from at least giving you a 'congrats' you decided to intervene. "I don't know what ya'll fussin' about but I put a lot into tonight. Save the drama for at home, please."

"It's none of your business," she snapped. 

"But bitch it's her venue," Sasha responded, not raising her voice which was scarier than if she would've started yelling. 

"Wow ! A stripper finally decided to do something better with her life," Mia said sarcastically. 

You didn't talk. You didn't believe in arguing. It was either act on what you wanted to do or shut up. That's how things went in the club. With that being said, you picked up Jean's drink and threw it on her, glass included. The cup bounced off of her head and smashed onto the floor. You started to move closer to her to fight but Connie scooped you over his shoulder with the quickness. "Unt un. Not tonight," he said. 

"Boo, you whore. You're no fun," you sigh.